With the reality of current events, many organizations are finding themselves deciding to relocate, improve upon, or completely re-design warehouse spaces in order to meet changing business conditions. Some businesses are looking to eliminate waste as sales volume reduces, while at the same time retaining current staff. While others are seeing exponential growth and are looking to increase volume, without adding headcount, to improve margins.

Sometimes you’ve got to go "new." That is what Witchita-based BG Products determined when management recognized that the existing operation could not accommodate aggressive future growth projections. To address their multiple material flow and space issues, the company opted to build a new DC based on lean design principles.

In the webinar "Applying Lean Principles to a New DC Design" (in partnership with the Warehouse Education and Research Council - WERC), LeanCor's Brent Cable and Derek Browning explored how the LeanCor Consulting team developed BG Products’ new greenfield facility.

Headquartered in Spencer, Mass., FLEXcon is a global leader in coated and laminated films and adhesives used in graphics applications, manufactured goods and new products. Customer and relationship-driven from the core of its business, FLEXcon has always valued product innovation and continuous improvement in order to provide customers with a competitive advantage.

When its leadership team recognized an opportunity to better serve customers from a delivery and efficiency standpoint, they knew they needed a logistics service provider that went beyond just moving products once they got to the dock.

They needed a strategic partner that would improve how products actually arrived at the dock and were loaded onto a truck.

FLEXcon partnered with LeanCor Supply Chain Group in order to think through its entire supply chain, ensuring its upstream processes that lead into the shipping department could support delivering better customer service.

LeanCor's VP of Supply Chain Solutions, Derek Browning, sat down with FLEXcon's Chief Financial Officer, Aimee Peacock, to explore FLEXcon's journey to building a best-in-class logistics system to deliver higher value to its customers.

What wastes lay hidden in areas such as: inventory, transportation, space and facilities, time, packaging, administration and knowledge within my supply chain?

Let’s begin by tackling question one for today: What are the guiding principles of your supply chain?

First, have you or your team really defined the purpose of your supply chain? When it was created, was it a matter of just piecing things together, as it progressed, or did you have a strategic plan on how it would fit together to deliver the products needed in the time required? Unfortunately, many supply chains that we first encounter fit into the former scenario. This approach is similar to building a car without fully understanding all of the pieces and systems that must fit together and work in harmony without first having a plan!

Yet, many companies manage a complex supply chain that moves parts and stock keeping units (SKUs) over thousands of miles, through multiple borders and various modes of transportation, with little to no visibility or strategy.

Navigating through this complexity while keeping a "true north" requires a set of guiding principles for a resilient supply chain.

There are few among us who would have believed the severity of the "Black Swan" event amidst which we currently find ourselves. Our way of thinking about the world and our supply chains has changed. We now find ourselves in uncharted waters and where we need to now - in some respects - begin again.

Our supply chain status quo will not carry us successfully into the future. It's time for us to review, revamp and rebuild.

First the trade war with China, now the spread of COVID-19. Some companies are facing a new reality: their supply chains are becoming increasingly unstable. When events like these happen – regardless of where – supply chains can be under-prepared and at the mercy of the market.

With COVID-19, the situation is evolving very quickly. What can we do now to mitigate the impact? And once this is all over, how will we recover?

In a webinar fromCompetitive Insightsand LeanCor, we dove into what actionable supply chain risk (SCR) strategies companies are using that position them to thrive in this disruptive environment - while protecting team members, customers, and margins.

Drive revenue growth by improving your supply chain strategies.

The 'Amazon effect,' and e-commerce are demanding more out of businesses. The pressure to adapt and innovate amidst higher customer expectations has created complexity that we are pioneering for the first time, making us feel as if we are all learning for the first time.